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UTILITY WEEK | 6TH - 12TH NOVEMBER 2015 | 3 Leader Ellen Bennett This week 4 | Seven days 6 | People & Opinion 8 | Interview Sara Bell, chief executive and founder, Tempus Energy 12 Policy & Regulation 12 | News DNOs to encounter tougher competition 14 Finance & Investment 14 | News Cuts sink water firms' renewables plans 16 | Analysis Ofwat's transparency agenda 17 | Analysis Operating in a world that is always connected 18 Operations & Assets 18 | High viz The Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year 20 | Event Utility Week-Cognizant data analytics roundtable 22 | Market view Customer care and cloud computing 23 Customers 23 | News DCC promises to fix smart meter glitch 24 | Analysis The big six square up with winter advertising campaigns 28 Markets & Trading 27 | News All eyes on Saudi Arabia over oil price intentions 28 | Market view Interconnectors put thermal generation under pressure 30 Community 31 | Disconnector Ofwat's transparency drive is a win-win What have water companies got to hide? Nothing – which is why Ofwat's call for an industry-wide strategic dashboard providing interested parties with comparable data on company performance and finances is such a good idea. Right now, it's hard to find data on water companies – harder than it should be – and that creates an atmosphere of mistrust and misunderstanding. There's a deeper purpose here too. As Whitehall budgets are slashed across the board, Ofwat is having to deliver more for less. The newly-lean regulator will find its job of holding companies to account easier if those companies have to regularly make public a variety of datasets that reveal both their performance and their finances. As a former company chief executive himself, Ofwat chair- man Jonson Cox knows that the harsh light of public scrutiny can be a great motivator. It's an insight he has used cannily, and to great effect, since taking the chair in 2013. That's not to say water companies shouldn't welcome the move. It may go against the grain for a sector that likes to stay under the radar, but times are changing and customers and other stakeholders see access to information as a right, not a privilege. Rather than see that information revealed piecemeal and out of context, companies can lead the agenda and shape the conversation. Chances are, it will serve them well to do so. Take the National Audit Office's recent report on the sector, which claimed water companies pocketed more than £800 million in the last AMP thanks to low tax and interest rates. Many leading figures in the industry say privately the NAO got its sums wrongs, with numbers that fail to reflect the cost of embedded debt, and other expenses faced by water companies. How much easier would it be to refute such errors if water company information was clearly and easily accessible? Moreover, making datasets public enlists potentially thousands of data experts who can spot trends and help water companies see or solve problems – take Yorkshire Water's recent hackathon, for example, and read Jacob Tompkins' comments this week on p7. The companies have accepted that the strategic dashboard is happening, and have taken control of the project, under the aus- pices of Water UK. As the steering committee works out what data- sets should be shown and how, the industry should remember that the more detail it provides, and the more open it is about its finances in particular, the more effective the dashboard will be. Ellen Bennett, Editor ellen.bennett@fav-house.com GAS 20 | Event Utility Week- Cognizant data analytics roundtable WATER 16 | Analysis Ofwat's transparency agenda 18 | High viz The Atkins CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year ELECTRICITY 8 | Interview Sara Bell, chief executive and founder, Tempus Energy 12 | News DNOs to encounter tough competition 14 | News Cuts sink water firms' renewables plans 28 | Market view Interconnectors put thermal generation under pressure ENERGY 17 | Analysis Operating in a world that is always connected 22 | Market view Customer care and cloud computing 23 | News DCC promises to fix smart meter glitch 24 | Analysis The big six square up with winter advertising campaigns 27 | News All eyes on Saudi Arabia over oil price intentions OpOwer: Eon UK rebuilt trust with cus- tomer engagement and digital transformation. http://bit.ly/1M8xxD3 Knowledge worth keeping Visit the Downloads section of Utility Week's website http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/ downloads Bain & Company: Utilities 2015: A policy positioning paper http://bit.ly/1jANeGB